


To Be Proven Wrong

by TABLEWOMAN



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: I would put more tags but I don't know what to say lets just say magical tribes and leave it at that, M/M, Well - Freeform, and boi this is gonna be a long journey, and magic, anddddd, but I still love him, he's great, okay, saltishima is still an ass, there's tribes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-01 02:06:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13284657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TABLEWOMAN/pseuds/TABLEWOMAN
Summary: Hinata never knew the sacred gatherings could have ever proved to be so beneficial. Both his mother and his sister left happy and now they could take new knowledge home that would improve their lives by leaps and bounds. What went wrong, you say? Hinata had gone hoping to make new friends but instead met two higher class teenage salty asses who couldn't look more grumpy if their mothers had died. But never mind that. He would never have to see them ever again. Would he?





	1. The Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata just wanted friends he could call his own but instead he got Tsukishima Kei and Kageyama Tobio. Don't misunderstand, they weren't friends, but having met them turned him into a different person. Because now he realized there were always worse people in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I would usually wait until I have finished a few chapters before uploading but I just finished this and wanted to see what you guys think. Yes, I know its boring. But it gets better. Or at least I hope it does. Anyways, bear with me and read it and try not to fall asleep. Remember, I will be watching 0-0. But if you do like it, make sure to leave me a comment and I'll be happier than ever. Thank you~~~~~

The wind was whistling past the young boy’s head as he made his way through the forest alongside his fellow tribe members, the light of the torch illuminating their surroundings, albeit minimally. It was enough to see themselves and the greenery around their immediate space, but it didn’t give much clue as to the tribe’s overall location. If the tribe elders hadn’t already been introduced to this sacred path and been treading it for centuries, it was completely understandable – if not expected – that the rest of them would get lost. Heck, if the elders weren’t here, that was a definite possibility.

Even though this gathering was important – enough so that endless responsibilities had been pounded into Hinata despite him being of the lower class – he couldn’t help but feel excited as the adrenaline refused to stop pumping itself through his veins and he had to restrain himself so that he didn’t move around pointlessly to wear down his energy and nervous tension.

Today – or rather, tonight – was going to be a big night. The three tribes would gather in the sacred circle in the middle of the woods, in the middle of the borders between the allied tribes, in other words, neutral country belonging to no clan – as cliché as that sounds – to establish and renew alliances between each other and to form prospective marriages between tribe leaders to create bonds between their clans and their people. It was going to be a night of tradition.  
It only happened every fifteen years or so as this was generally an appropriate time period to allow for new offspring of clan chiefs, however, as it turned out, each current chief only had sons. Although this made alliances between tribes this gathering more difficult, there were still plenty of female suitors among the higher class of which would certainly not disappoint regarding social status.

Because the initial purpose of the sacred gatherings was to ensure and retain alliances between the tribes, it had become almost tradition that all clan members attended regardless of social status, even though those of middle and lower class would have no place in negotiations or discussions, it was still a chance for the children of each tribe to socialize and get to know each other just in case they may need to assist each other in the throes of war when and if they happen to have to stand on the same battlefield. After all, the whole point of the alliances were so they could protect their homelands when outsiders decided to invade on it, so it made sense that the tribes – not just the leaders and higher class – knew each other to some extent more than just formalities. Because let’s face it. Formalities weren’t going to save them when they were face to face with death.

Perhaps that’s what had Hinata so riled up, the fact that he would get to meet other kids his age made him ecstatic. Even though he was of lower class and hardly worth a mention – heck, even most of his tribe didn’t even know of his existence – he hoped that the kids of the other tribes would look past that and maybe want to hang out with him. Yeah, they would probably be the same as the kids from his tribe, only concerned about social standing. Hinata couldn’t blame them though; everything revolved around peoples’ places in the world. To be seen with someone in the lower class was beyond unsightly – it was unprecedented. To be in the lower class is what the “Westerners” would classify as being “homeless bums” or “street rats”. All in all, it was understandable why no one would want to associate themselves with him. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Even street rats had feelings too.

But if Hinata could join other kids for even a short while without prejudice – okay, maybe that was a bit too much to ask for – but if he could…..he would never ask for anything else in his life. He had always craved the connections kids his age seemed to form so casually. He wasn’t complaining. In fact, he had everything he could ever ask for. He had a loving mother and sister who would do anything for him, he had clothes that would get him through the winter and somehow he was no longer on the brink of starvation with the new job his mother had recently gotten, so in fact, life was pretty great at the moment. But if he could, just once, he wanted to know what it felt like to be a kid. And this was his only chance in his lifetime to attempt to achieve that.

The movement around the boy and his small family ceased as all the tribe members came to a stop, the silence then impending on him like a heavy weight he couldn’t remove. The suspense was killing him and maybe not in a good way. He was worried his heart was going to burst and that then took place as his top concern as he didn’t want to die before he got to meet with the other kids. Otherwise that would defeat the purpose of all his anticipation up until now.

Hinata felt his heart ease back into a (somewhat) steady pattern when his little sister Natsu gently tugged on his hand and he looked down at her. “It’s going to be okay, Natsu. It’s going to be fine,” he reassured her and stroked her cheeks, tipping her chin up to face him. “You never know, you may even get to play with some of the little girls from the other village. How does that sound?” He gently ruffled her hair and she giggled a bit; not enough so to disturb the silence but enough that only Hinata and his mother could hear it. His mother smiled down at them and rubbed Hinata’s own hair and he wanted to complain – he was nearly taller than her after all – but it came out as a pout instead and that just made her chuckle and ruffle harder.

Yeah, even if he couldn’t socialize with the other kids, he had his family. And family was all that mattered.

Other shuffles of footsteps and voices started to permeate the air and invade the silence now, the flames of additional torches lighting up more of the area and giving his tribe the view of the tribe opposing them as they came into view. 

“Chief Sawamura, how lovely it is to see you again. You look just as old as ever.” The two clan leaders shook hands as a formality, looking at each briefly before engaging in a manly – as manly as mid-fifty year old men can – hug, both of them patting each other on the back and laughing before Chief Sawamura playfully knocked the other man on the head and he grunted. 

“I see you haven’t gotten any younger either, old friend. I had thought it was just me, what with all this youth around, but then I saw your face and I was reassured that it wasn’t.” The two men then reengaged in their playful brawl until Sawamura’s wife, the Chieftess, coughed behind her hand to remind the two men where they were. They both pulled away and began straightening their shirts rather awkwardly until the two wives reunited with a smile, breaking the awkward tension from before.

At this point more shuffling had gathered in the clearing as the third and final tribe settled into the area, their own Chieftain coming forwards to stand with the other two.  
“Sawamura. Kageyama.” The man nodded and the two nodded back, acknowledging the presence of the final chief, Chief Tsukishima of the Tsukishima Tribe. Now that all three tribes had gathered, the clan members started to blend into social groups – with the exception of the higher class and leaders staying for more important matters – and the atmosphere became cheerful as idle chatter filled the serene atmosphere. 

Hinata was bouncing up and down on the soles of his feet, having to hold himself back from sprinting over to the younger groups socializing, looking up at his mother with pleading eyes, almost tearing up with desperation. The woman sighed and laughed to herself and ruffled her son’s hair once again before ruffling her other child’s. “Okay, you can go, but make sure you take Natsu.”

“But mu-” 

“No buts. Take your sister and,” she smiled gently and ran her finger over his cheek in the same motherly gesture he was so fond of. “Enjoy yourselves.” Hinata pouted but soon replaced it with a smile as he realized his mother only meant the best for him. “Okay, I’ll take Natsu too. I’m sure she wants to make some friends too, don’t you Natsu?” He said smiling down at the little girl clinging to him and she beamed at both him and the idea of making friends. Hinata pecked his mother on the cheek affectionately and grabbed his sister’s hand beginning to pull her with him towards the crowd.

“Shouyo.” Hinata stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his mother and caught her smile. “Have fun.” Both Natsu and Hinata beamed and began to sprint towards the noise once again, leaving their mother to her own devices and to hopefully get along with the other ladies.

Hinata walked at a fast pace – though not too fast seeing as he had Natsu in his grip – and dragged them both into the groups of the younger socializers, about to take off when he spotted a group of boys who looked to be about his age when Natsu spotted a group of her own. Sighing, Hinata resigned himself to his fate and pushed back his desires to the furthest reaches of his mind in order to fulfil his little sister’s wishes. He couldn’t help it. He was a good big brother.

“Want to go over there, Natsu?” The little girl’s head bobbed up and down vigorously as she pointed to the group of young girls playing something that appeared to be fairies or princesses. Hinata couldn’t tell – not that he really wanted to. He squeezed the little girl’s hand tighter as he dragged both himself and her through a sudden crowd of bodies to clear the human wave and appear on the other side. Once they had pushed through, Natsu hugged her brother and went to run off but he caught her wrist.

“Natsu!” One of the girls from the group walked over to him and Natsu, both girls beaming just as bright as each other. The two began talking while Hinata’s hand was still attached to Natsu’s as he didn’t want to let go unless he knew it was safe for him to leave her. Natsu went to go with the girl but was stopped; looking up as she realized her hand was still held tightly in her brother’s. The other girl seemed to notice this too.

“You’re worried, right? It’s okay, I’ll look after Natsu, Natsu’s onii-san! Please?” Both his sister and the girl looked up at him with pleading eyes and Hinata cautiously let go, albeit reluctantly and watched as the two girls ran away from him to join their group.

‘At least Natsu looks happy….’ He thought as he wandered around idly looking for his own group to join. Sadly, all the gatherings he had had his eyes on before had either moved or dissipated and he couldn’t seem to spot anyone his age and he was left to stumble alone through the crowd of middle-aged men and little children as he tried to find somewhere to fit in. Having no luck, Hinata retreated to the darker parts of the gathering away from the spotlight, walking deeper into the forest and away from the noise. If he wasn’t going to find any friends, then the least he could do to make the most of his night was relax in the silence of the forest leaning up against some tree somewhere. Okay, so maybe he wouldn’t achieve his dream, but at least he could still have a good night. And even better, both Natsu and (probably) his mother were enjoying it too.

Having successfully retreated away from the noise, Hinata let the comforting sound of silence drift like music into his ears, with the exception of the occasional hoot or rustle of branches. He had always found comfort in the woods as the greenery and thickness of the foliage offered warmth and safety, something he’d come to find as a familiar presence over time. He would often retreat to the forest as a means of hunting, collecting berries or even fishing at the occasional stream to support his family, bringing home sticks and other pieces of wood he had collected so that his family could survive the winter, that sort of thing. But for even more reason, he had simply felt more welcomed amongst the leafy giants than his own tribe; often an outcast simply because of what he was didn’t exactly make a person feel great. It had even made getting a job difficult. But with his mother’s endless kindness and loving personality, she had eventually found one with well enough pay that the family no longer had to rely on every morsel Hinata brought home just to feed themselves. Life was great at the moment. But sometimes comfort comes most from older days.

The wind had picked up substantially and Hinata breathed in the fresh pine scent that invaded his nose; his senses. Just the nostalgic feel of everything felt so familiar, like a long-lost family he was now once again in the embrace of. Despite the chilling cold, he was unsurprisingly warm. He was as content as content could be, having long forgotten how he had lost the opportunity to make friends that night. Being here alone always seemed to make his worries disappear somewhere. Even if it was only temporary and he knew his worries would only return to his mind again later, the forest was the only place he could have some sort of relief. That and the silence. Only it wasn’t silent.

Hinata jumped up from where he had been leaning against the base of the tree, springing to his feet and edging closer to the noises with wary curiosity. Having gotten closer, he could now tell they were voices. Several male voices. They didn’t sound much older than he and on further inspection he could now differentiate between the voices. Lost in thought, the silence was abruptly broken when the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping echoed loudly from beneath his feet.

‘Oh shit…….’

“Who’s there? Show yourself.” The voice sounded dominant and commanding, obviously a voice which held power. Great. He had stumbled upon a group of higher class teens and now he was going to feel like shit again when he left tonight. Great. Just great.

“I said show yourself.”

Hinata breathed in, mentally preparing himself, and pushed the conveniently placed bush aside, showing himself to the group of teenage boys splayed out in front of him. They all stopped to stare at each other before Hinata’s eyes roved over a familiar face and he couldn’t stop himself before the deed had already been done.

“Daichi-san?” Everyone looked between him and Daichi, trying to figure out the relationship between the two before Daichi spoke up. “Hinata?” The clearing was quiet for a moment as the two looked at each other questioningly.

Daichi, despite being the Chieftain’s son and next and only in line to be the next leader of the tribe, was quite the gentle soul and didn’t care to discriminate between people by their social class and interacted with everybody despite their status. Hinata had hung out with Daichi on several occasions and Daichi had often confided in him like a friend seeing as he could “trust him more than anyone else in the tribe”. It was a tough thing to confess to, seeing as he was the only son to the chief and required and expected to marry a woman to bear sons, that he was in fact, gay. Apparently, well according to Daichi – if you couldn’t trust his word on this matter, it would be hard to trust anybody’s – he hadn’t told anyone else and he was glad to let the pressure off of his back when he had told somebody that he knew wouldn’t blab. In a way, Hinata had felt honored and had come to like Daichi very much but couldn’t hang around with him too much as his priorities as chieftain’s son kept him busy.

Daichi had come to like this boy called Sugawara Koushi. Hinata had seen him a few times around here and there. He was older than him by about two years – like Daichi – and had grey hair and a beauty spot to the side of his eye. Hinata could see why he liked him. The boy was kind, gentle and loving – almost like a mother – and showed endless concern for his friends and peers.

The two had gotten along as the greatest as friends for a while, until their fondness for each other soon exceeded that of mere friendship and Daichi had confessed to Sugawara soon after he had confided in Hinata (Hinata had also been told afterwards the result of the confession). Sugawara was overjoyed and the two had been dating for several months now, having successfully kept it a secret from everyone in the tribe while still enjoying each other’s presence and maybe the occasional kiss or two when they were out of sight. In all honesty, Hinata thought the two were perfect for each other and supported the ship like a hardcore fangirl – he refused to admit he was – and would often help usher them away from crowds to help them get time alone together more than they would otherwise. Soon Hinata and Sugawara had become great friends too, Hinata having promised Suga that if he ever had Daichi’s kids, he would be the uncle (to which Suga blushed). So it was strange to see Daichi alone without Suga and Hinata couldn’t stop his curiosity from controlling his mouth.

“Where’s Suga?” Daichi blushed profusely, but from the angle of the moonlight only Hinata could see it and the older boy coughed. “With the others. What are you doing here Hinata?” Hinata looked at Daichi before returning the question. “Not to pry, but the same could be said to you. Why out alone in the dark with these guys? Shouldn’t you have important matters to attend to back at the gathering?” The four boys looked at Hinata like he had grown a second head.

“Firstly, Hinata, I don’t think you’ve realized but you’re the one out alone in the dark. Secondly, we’ve already attended to those matters.”

“We?” Okay, so maybe he somehow seemed to look like he had grown a third metaphorical head. Big deal. Why were they looking at him like that?

“Hinata.” Daichi sighed, putting his hand to his forehead in exasperation. “These are the other sons of the chieftains.”

Hinata had a blank look for a while looking between the four boys before the words sunk in. “W-What?!” Hinata squeaked. “You didn’t know? How could you not know who these guys are?” Daichi looked utterly surprised, looking at Hinata’s face questioningly as if somehow he could find the answers there.

Hinata scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Hehe, sorry Daichi. I’ll leave you guys alone then.” Hinata went to retreat to the comfort of the woods and away from the awkward atmosphere of the group when he was made to do so otherwise.

“Hold up, Hinata. I’ll introduce them to you. It’d probably be for the best if you actually knew who the next leaders were instead of remaining oblivious.” Hinata froze in his tracks and withheld his sigh, not wanting to sound rude. Hinata appreciated the gesture but he really had no interest in being introduced to a bunch of snobs who probably couldn’t even stand to be near him. Okay, maybe Hinata was a little prejudiced, but it was for good reason. All those of the higher class apart from Daichi had been the same way up until now and it seemed unlikely that these guys would be any different. Hinata turned around to face Daichi and sat down next to him when the boy gestured for him to do so.

“These are the Tsukishimas of the Tsukishima Tribe. The eldest and next in line, here, is Tsukishima Akiteru.” The older man gave a slight wave and nodded in Hinata’s direction. At least he seemed nice. “And this here, is the second son and second in line as Chief of the Tsukishima Tribe, Tsukishima Kei.” The other blonde barely seemed to acknowledge Hinata’s presence, almost seeming to have snorted at him as he turned away as if he couldn’t even bear to look at him. See? Hinata wasn’t prejudiced. This is exactly what happened.

“Just ignore him. He’s actually really nice on the inside.” Tsukishima Kei coughed to hide his laugh and Akiteru had to pat the guy on the back so that he didn’t choke. Yes. He seemed lovely.

“And finally, we have Kageyama Tobio, only son and next in line as Chief of the Kageyama Tribe.” Daichi smiled and waved his hands in front of Kageyama Tobio and the raven haired boy just frowned. Hinata would have been insulted if he didn’t suspect that that scowl was permanent. And besides, Hinata knew better than to expect any kind of acknowledgement from the higher class. Sure, they didn’t know he was of the lower class yet and the higher class weren’t always rude pieces of shit, but it wasn’t exactly often they were nice. Daichi and Akiteru just happened to be exceptions. Hinata had to hold back his sigh and instead opted for a fake smile, intertwining his fingers together.

“Thanks for that Daichi! It was nice meeting you Tsukishima Akiteru!” Said boy gave Hinata a grin and a wink before Hinata turned to the other two. “Tsukishima Kei. Kageyama Tobio.” Hinata nodded in their direction and didn’t get anything back. Not that he expected anything. The ginger-headed boy turned around and smiled. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later Daichi!” He waved to his friend as he retreated back into the forest despite the boy’s protests. As much as Hinata would have loved to have stayed and hung out with Daichi, and maybe even Tsukishima Akiteru, the thought of having to stick around the other two scumbags was less than appealing. Not that it mattered. He would never see any of the three ever again, much less on a personal level so it wasn’t like he had to worry about trying to please or get along with them.

Having made it back to his tree, Hinata sat in comfortable silence for another two hours before heading back to the sacred circle where the tribes had started to disperse. He met back up with his mother and sister in no time, both of them rather happy and smiling quite broadly. “‘Nii-san! ‘Nii-san! Guess what?!” Hinata looked down at the giggling child on his leg, shaking it playfully as she hung on while bursting into laughter. “I made a new friend today! Her name is Kyoko! She was very nice to me unlike the girls from our tribe and we played ballerinas!” Oh. So that’s what it was. Not fairies or princesses but ballerinas. Well now he knew. “That’s great, Natsu! Which tribe did she belong to?” Natsu beamed at her brother, somehow jumping while still attached to his leg.

“The Tsukishima Tribe!” Hinata almost spit out whatever saliva was in his mouth. From the same tribe as that salty ass? But then again, his brother was nice, so maybe it was just Tsukishima Kei with a personality issue. “The girls from that tribe weren’t mean at all, even when I told them I was from the lower class! The Tsukishima Tribe must be very nice people!” Hinata wanted to laugh but he had to contain it for the sake of his little sister. His lungs threatened to burst if he didn’t release it soon, perhaps even his bladder. But he would suffer. Because that’s what big brothers did for their little sisters.

“Right mama?!” Hinata’s mother looked down at her daughter lovingly and ruffled her hair. “Yeah. They are. A few of the ladies from that tribe showed me how to preserve meats and which foods could last longest. It will be very helpful with conserving food and we won’t have to spend so much money now. It’ll be great! Oh, and some other ladies from the Kageyama Tribe-” Hinata almost coughed at this “ – showed me how to mend holes in clothing so now we won’t have to buy new clothing as often anymore!” The woman looked overly ecstatic as if all her life problems had just been solved. Which in a way, they had. 

Hinata laughed gleefully and ruffled both his family members’ hair, grinning broadly and jumping to the side before his mother could slap his hand away and held both of their hands as they walked back home, or to what they could call a home, with the other members of their tribe. The night had turned out well even if Hinata hadn’t made any new friends and he was glad that at least Natsu and his mother had enjoyed themselves. Not to mention the night had reaped so many benefits that would not only help with survival but just the overall comfort of their lives. With the new tips his mother had learnt, they could keep food for longer and perhaps even sell extra to make more money. The same went with clothing. Perhaps they could even afford a decent blanket now, and combined with the firewood Hinata could scavenge from the forest, they wouldn’t even have to worry about winter anymore. 

Yes, life was going to be great from now on. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to see those two jerks anytime soon. 

And if he was really hopeful; never.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, alright! I know the "sacred circle" thing is so unoriginal and cliche as ever - not to mention the twig snapping thing. Also, I couldn't think of any names for the tribes so I just named them after their respective leaders - it just made my life easier. Don't hate on me. Or feel free to. Up to you. Either way, if you guys like it, I'll try to update, so if it's not too much effort, let me know. Goodbye, peoples of society~~~~


	2. Bakayama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata had thought he would never have to see the salty duo ever again, but life doesn't always exactly go as planned. Suddenly, the two have turned up to his tribe lands on "official business" and Hinata couldn't be more in despair. But after having come across Kageyama in the least likely of places, Hinata soon learns that the first impression is not necessarily the best impression and that people aren't always what you think they are at first. After all, they guy couldn't be that bad.....right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooo ~ thank you people who have read this so far, it makes me feel great! I understand that the first chapter was reaallllyyyy booorinnnngggg but I think this one is better. But what do I know? I'll let you guys judge. Anyways, try not to hate on me too much, authors have hearts too ~ *cough* not all of them *cough* *punch* Now what was I saying? Right. Enjoy ~~~

Just as he had expected, life had indeed been great. It had been two weeks since the Sacred Gathering and Hinata’s – not to mention his family’s – lives had been absolutely splendid. With the new tips his mother had brought home with her, Hinata didn’t have to hunt and forage for so long now and the effect it had on him physically showed. The boy was more energetic than he had been in years (with the exception of that night two weeks ago) and this allowed him to get a job helping out with moving goods across the tribe lands – not to mentions his body healed quicker now too! 

And most of all, he realized how lucky he was that no one like Kageyama Tobio or Saltishi-…..ugh….Tsukishima Kei lived in his tribe.  
Sure, he got the occasional ass who wouldn’t fuck the hell off when he was trying to mind his own business – like who in the heck becomes a public nuisance just for buying vegetables?! – or even the pricks who would look at him and his ragged clothing in disgust and think it gave them the right to push him out of the way. But that was okay. He would’ve previously found it infuriating and would’ve beaten them up if he physically could (he was a shrimp but he was strong. It’s just the daily hunting and starvation and winters, okay you get the point, had taken a toll on him). But now…now was different. It was almost as if he had achieved enlightenment. He didn’t feel angry or discouraged anymore. Because you know why? No one here was as bad as Bakayama or Saltishima.

Okay, maybe he was exaggerating just a tiny bit. They weren’t that bad. An image of Bakayama’s scowling face popped up in Hinata’s mind and he found himself scowling as well. Alright, they weren’t bad, per se, but they certainly weren’t pleasant in any manner. Hinata would rather take a beating to the face any day than have to deal with either one of them again. And that was saying something.

Hinata sighed as he and his family returned back to their little corner of the woods, just facing away from the tribe. Living on the outskirts really had its benefits – and no he was not just saying this because they couldn’t afford a roof over their heads. Living away from the public eye meant privacy. Privacy was a given for anybody – who wouldn’t want privacy? But when people detest you the same way they detest the rats that scurry across their feet, privacy becomes a godsend as you can escape from their wrath. But the main thing was that they had the whole stream to themselves. Sure, it was right close to the tribe center, on their lands no less, but for some reason no one else had ever found it. That or they never showed up. It was close by to where Hinata and his family were residing, conveniently hidden by masses of shrubbery and rocky formations that made it impossible to locate with the naked eye. If you wanted to find anything, you had to look deeper. Literally.

Hinata had only found it by chance when he had been foraging once a few years ago, having already attacked most of the bushes in the area, he decided to go deeper into the more dangerously guarded fruit bushes, testing his luck with the boulders overhead as he subtly pushed the plants to the side to get past them and travel deeper. It had taken a while, but after several minutes of bush-pushing, an entrance to a cave opened up and at the end of it and it – well, you can guess – was the stream. The stream wasn’t huge or magnificent – thankfully so, otherwise it would have attracted others by the noise and given itself away despite its rocky guardians – but it was deep enough to bathe in and all-round enjoy and the cave itself could provide shelter for them if anything happened and they needed to hide. It was the perfect place for a family like his and it had proven itself useful for many years – heck, he probably would’ve died of thirst if it weren’t for the stream – and they treasured it whilst never revealing its existence or location. 

Having just returned from said stream, Hinata and his family had just cleaned their bodies for the day and were returning to their residence – okay, not residence but Hinata liked to believe so – to get ready for the day’s work ahead of them. The sun was only just making its appearance in the sky and the morning chill made the water on their skin stick, making it feel all the more refreshing. Hinata loved mornings like this when he could feel the coolness of water mixed with subtly cool winds on his skin as his hair was gently blown around his face. It was a nice, calm feeling. One that the winters never allowed. Until now.

Hinata breathed in the morning air and looked to the slowly-dawning sky. He wasn’t surprised to find his family doing the same. Oranges, pinks, yellows and purples swirled through the vast space above their heads, forming thousands of unique patterns. There wasn’t much that could be passed off as beautiful in their lives, but this certainly could.  
Sighing, Hinata pulled his eyes away and continued his trek home. If he didn’t hurry, he wouldn’t have time to eat anything before work and Hinata knew from experience that lack of food made one weak. Okay, missing a meal or two was an exaggeration of that, but seeing as he had survived being on the brink of starvation for the last sixteen years, he knew it would be an easy feat to skip breakfast. Not that he wanted to.

Hinata broke into a run, surprising both his mother and sister who just laughed. He could feel the caress of the wind more violently now and he loved it. Was he a masochist? Definitely not. He just liked to feel the wind, okay?

He was pulled out of his mad dash abruptly as he came to a stop in front of their corner, glad to see that no one had cared to rob them yet. All in all, they didn’t own anything worth money or just anything that could even live up to their name – their blanket wasn’t even a blanket but some fabric held together by minimal threads – but people would often take their stuff just to piss them off. Yeah, he got that they were lower class, but those guys were just dicks.

Hinata put on his boots and reveled in the feel of new material brushing against the soles of his feet. Because of his mother’s new job and the additional life tips, they had been able to now afford a cheap pair for him to start working – and either way, within a week, his job would earn back the money they had spent on the boots easily with change to spare. 

Hinata took off just as his mother and sister arrived, bidding them a quick farewell and dashing off to where he was needed.

“Hey, Hinata!” Hinata looked to his left, smiling when he saw his boss. Yeah, the guy probably had extra work for him but that meant more money. But the main reason was he was smiling was because he was actually a really great guy. “I’ve got another box or two that need to be carted over to the other side of the tribe, if I give you the address, are you up for it?” Hinata nodded profusely, smiling broadly as he went over and jumped on his boss, wrapping himself around him in a hug. “Thanks, Aki-chan!” The broad man frowned and grabbed Hinata’s head, ruffling it roughly before he picked the kid up into the air.

“I thought I told you not to call me by my name! And Aki-chan, no less! Call me “Boss”! “Boss”!” Hinata’s laughter erupted from his throat as he squirmed to pull himself away from the man’s grasp, failing miserably before Aki-chan looked at his watch and put the boy down. “Shit, we’ve wasted too much time, you’d better get going.” He passed Hinata a slip with the delivery address written on it and pushed the boy towards the small stack of boxes to the side. Hinata groaned. With Aki-chan, if the boxes were small, that generally meant they were heavy as fuck. Hinata didn’t even know what could possibly be so small while being so heavy, but he had learned not to question it seeing as it was “customers’ privacy”. But damn, what in the heck were these people buying?!

“Okay, I’m off. See ya, Aki-chan!” Hinata waved and took off with the heavy boxes in tow before the man could catch him and drag him back just so he could lecture him again. Hinata laughed. Though he looked tough on the outside, he knew his boss was really just a big softie and that he secretly liked the nickname he had given him. Not that Aki-chan would ever admit it.

Hinata came to a stop outside the given address after he had had to push through people all the way there – it was tiring – and knocked on the door. A few seconds later a grumpy old man pulled the door open and looked around before looking down at Hinata as if only just noticing he was there. Hinata almost felt insulted. He was short but not that short! Especially compared to a balding old man!

Hinata held back his offence with a business smile. “Nakamura Nobuhiro-san? If you could sign this paper for me and I’ll give you your goods.” Hinata held out the clipboard he was forced to carry for each of his deliveries to prove that they had actually gotten to the recipients they were intended to go to.

“You’ll give me my goods? Boy, they’re mine, I can take them whenever I want!” The man grabbed the boxes out of Hinata’s grip and slammed the door leaving Hinata out on the front porch. Okay, maybe he could have worded that better but still, that was no excuse for an old fogey to decide Hinata wasn’t even worth his time, much less basic human respect. Hinata was fuming and before he could stop himself, he was already banging on the man’s door, refusing to leave without his signature. After all, Hinata couldn’t lose his job and this old man and his rudeness made it ever more likely.

After several minutes of tireless and relentless knocking, the door finally swung open to reveal the old fart with a pen and a deep scowl. The man yanked the clipboard out of his hands and scribbled his signature muttering “stupid kids” the whole while before he threw it back at him and slammed the door again. Hinata sighed but was revitalized by the sight of the signature and the relief of no weight being on his shoulders anymore (literally) as he ran back into town.

For some reason, the tribe center had become indescribably more….festive? There were different colours strewn everywhere and he either hadn’t noticed it before or the square had transformed itself within the time span of ten minutes. It was probably the former, but if Hinata had missed this he would have had to have been blind. A certain gold colour caught his eye as it was carried past him brusquely. Wasn’t that the colour of the Tsukishim-

“Now presenting Chief Tsukishima, Tsukishima Akiteru and Tsukishima Kei of the Tsukishima Tribe!” Loud cheers rose from the crowd as they gathered around the higher class figures, each person wanting to get a closer look. Well fuck. As much as he loved being right, now he detested himself for it.

Hinata pulled away from the crowd before that bastard could spot him, running far, far away from any sort of commotion that might have indicated the presence of the clan leaders were nearby. If he had the misfortune of coming face to face with that salty stick he doubted he would be able to get rid of his foul mood before he got home and he didn’t want to worry his mother or sister. Returning the clipboard with a wave to Aki-chan, Hinata took off to the only place that calmed his nerves. The forest. More specifically, the stream in the forest.

Hinata pushed his way out of the crowds – either he pushed or they did – and finally came to the outskirts of the tribe and made a mad dash for his family’s special place. Their secret place. Only it wasn’t secret anymore.

“BAKAYAMA?!” Hinata’s voice echoed off the cave walls as the naked figure in the stream turned his face to meet the newcomer’s. He barely acknowledged his presence and went back to relaxing before Hinata grabbed the boy’s clothes and threw them at him, Kageyama only just having caught them before they touched the surface of the water. 

Kageyama glared at the red-head. “Dumbass! You could’ve got my clothes wet!” Hinata looked surprised by the raven-haired boy’s outburst, almost jumping back in fright. Hinata looked away and covered his eyes; a full-blown flush covered his face. “B-Baka! Have a sense of shame! Put your clothes back on!” Kageyama scoffed and threw his clothes back at Hinata, knocking him over. “You’re the one that decided to peek on me while I was relaxing so you have no right to scold me!” Kageyama submerged himself in the water to drown out the energetic boy’s insults and complaints about how he surely “wasn’t peeking”.

Kageyama resurfaced to see the boy squinting outside the cave. “No one else is here dumbass.” Kageyama watched the boy visibly sigh with relief, falling to the cave floor. “What? Don’t you want to be seen with me?” Hinata scoffed. “As much as I would hate to be seen with you, let alone actually having to be next to you, that’s not the reason.” Kageyama scowled. “Anyways, that’s not important. Did anyone see you come here – as in, does anyone know of this place?” Kageyama looked at the boy puzzlingly before shaking his head with a sigh. “Not that I know of.” Hinata visibly flinched. “But what I do know-” Kageyama continued. “- is that if anyone had, I would have noticed them. Not only are my senses really sharp, but so is my magical ability. No one would be able to be within twenty feet of me without me knowing,” Kageyama finished and watched as the boy relaxed as he came over to sit near Kageyama at the edge of the stream.

“That’s a relief,” Hinata sighed. “Why?” Now it was Hinata’s turn to look puzzled as he stared at Kageyama. “Well…. It isn’t the easiest of places to find and that’s why my family and I have had it to ourselves for so long. This is where we bathe and get our water from so it’s really important to us and if anyone else found out about it we’d be deeply inconvenienced.” Kageyama scoffed at the use of “deeply inconvenienced” and Hinata glared back at him. “How did you find this place anyway?!” As if he had remembered something life-changing, he asked the question that probably should have been asked right at the start. “Hold up, that can wait! Why are you even here?! Why are you on Sawamura lands?!”

Kageyama looked at the boy like he was stupid and it irked Hinata to no ends. “If you hadn’t noticed, you’re either dense or oblivious, but to answer your questions, firstly, I am here because my father brought me here along with the Tsukishima Tribe leaders to look for prospective brides, and secondly, I found this place when I was wondering the woods trying to get away from having to look for prospective brides. There. You’re welcome for the life story.” Kageyama submerged himself in the water again, watching the slightest bit entertained when he made out the blurry figure of Hinata shaking his fist at him before the ginger stopped and opened his mouth as if a revelation had just come upon him. Kageyama resurfaced. 

“You mean….those banners and tribe colours in the center were for you guys?! Well, actually it makes sense seeing as they are your tribe colours and everything and the fact that I already saw Saltishima only confirms it – but that’s why you’re here?! No one told me! I didn’t even know you guys would be coming until ten minutes ago!” Kageyama had to fight the urge to face palm. The kid really was dense. That or he just didn’t pay attention to anything, if not the world around him. Then he remembered Saltishima. He laughed. It really fit that guy.

“What? You wanna fight, Bakayama?!” Kageyama flinched and glared up at Hinata. “Why am I Bakayama?!” Hinata jumped. “Because you’re stupid, stupid!” The boy stuck out his tongue and Kageyama grabbed him by the ankle, yanking him off his feet and throwing him into the stream with him.

“Stupid Bakayama! That was my only set of clothes and now they’re all wet! You idiot!” Kageyama grinned and splashed a wave of water at Hinata, fully drenching his clothing and wanting to laugh at the look of horror on the boy’s face. “That’s what you get for calling me stupid.” Kageyama crossed his arms and smirked with satisfaction as Hinata’s face turned just about as red as his hair. Or orange. Well….you get the point. Out of nowhere, Hinata smirked and jumped out of the stream making a mad dash for Kageyama’s clothes and the raven’s face noticeably paled. “NO! BAKA! Don’t touch my clothes!” But it was too late. Hinata had already thrown the other boy’s garments into the stream and both boys watched as it sunk to the bottom of the shallow pool, one looking proud and the other looking as if he was about to strangle somebody.

“DUMBASS!! I had to wear that today! That was the specific clothing that I have to wear so people know I am the Chieftain’s son!” Hinata stuck out his tongue at him again and laughed. “At least you have other clothing. I’ll probably catch a cold now because I’ll be forced to wear this all night in the cold. I think the least of your problems is not being recognized as somebody’s son.” Kageyama wanted to strangle the boy but remembered his previous statement. “Out in the cold?” Hinata looked over at the other boy and tilted his head to the side in question. “You didn’t know? I’m from the lower class. We don’t have a house. We live on the street.” Oh. That explained why he only had one set of clothing then. And why the stream was so important.

Kageyama smirked. Things would get interesting from now on. “Wait, ‘we’?” Hinata looked at him like he was stupid and Kageyama wanted to smack him for it. As much as he found the boy both entertaining and annoying, it was a foreign concept having someone be so open and carefree around him, seeing as he was the only son of the Chieftain and next in line to be tribe leader. And the fact that he well exceeded magic users of his age didn’t exactly help either. His skills intimidated people and made them cautious of him as if they never knew when he was going to explode. But Hinata, some kid from nowhere, from the lower class of the Sawamura Tribe no less, was being so free with him and it was unsettling. But Kageyama wasn’t about to let that stop whatever……this was. He was having fun for the first time – as much fun as he could have – and he didn’t intend to cut it short unless he was fully satisfied.

“Well, yeah. I have a family, stupid.” Kageyama’s eyebrow twitched. Maybe he was actually a masochist, because if he actually enjoyed being treated like this, there was definitely something wrong with him. But then again, there has always been something wrong with him. Just the fact that he wasn’t “normal” was enough as it is. “My mother and sister look just like me – it’s impossible to not tell we are related. But sometimes it’s annoying because our orange hair sticks out in a crowd and people don’t tend to like those from the lower class very much, but seeing as we are memorable and my mother is known for her kindness and Natsu for her sweetness, there are the occasional few who treat them well and it saves me having to punch some extra guys up. So I guess it’s alright.” Hinata shrugged and stopped rambling looking elsewhere as if he could see something. Kageyama followed his gaze only to find the cave wall.

“And your father…..?” Hinata looked downwards and Kageyama couldn’t help but wonder if he shouldn’t have asked. “…….He got sick..…and died.” Hinata’s shoulders slouched and Kageyama gave him the silence he felt he needed before dragging himself out of the water along with his soggy clothes. It didn’t take Hinata long to return to his usual self as he broke out of his daze and looked at the Kageyama in front of him.

“BAKAYAMA!!! PUT ON SOME DAMN CLOTHES!!” Hinata closed his eyes again and slapped Kageyama’s shoulder and Kageyama slapped him back. “DUMBASS!! I don’t have any clothes! You drenched them!” Hinata opened his eyes tentatively and turned Kageyama around so that he was facing away from him. “It doesn’t matter Bakayama! Just wear them! I’m stuck having to wear mine too, so just deal with it!” Kageyama turned his head back at the boy who was currently facing the other way even though Kageyama was already turned away from him.

“What’s it matter? We’re both guys,” Kageyama paused. “……aren’t we?” Hinata swiveled around as if he was possessed; momentarily forgetting the boy in front of him was still naked. “Of course, stupid!” Hinata raised his fist and Kageyama just scoffed. “Prove it.” Hinata’s face went blank for a moment, letting the dare sink in before a vibrant flush consumed his cheeks, both at realizing what it intended and that the raven was actually still naked in front of him – how had he not noticed? “I-I don’t need to! I’m a guy and that’s that!” Kageyama smirked as if he had won. “Then what’s the problem? You gay or something?” Hinata flushed even harder before his face darkened. “That’s not it. I just……have my reasons.” Kageyama decided to leave it at that with a sigh, his smirk having disappeared. Reasons? What reasons could he possibly have? Extreme self-consciousness, maybe? The raven dismissed any further thought on the subject but he couldn’t stop the remark before it left his mouth. “Oh, I understand. Pretty little ladies shouldn’t go flashing their goods at random men, now should they?” Hinata lost it.

“I’M NOT A GIRL YOU STUPID IDIOT!!!!” Hinata ran at Kageyama and jumped on him, surprising them both as he wrestled him to the ground. Now Hinata was on top of Kageyama and in this position it was hard not to feel the other male, definite male. Guess he unintentionally proved it. Hinata jumped off Kageyama suddenly, both realizing that he was both naked and the raven probably felt something he shouldn’t have. Hinata coughed behind his hand. Well at least he had proved he wasn’t a girl.

“H-Hurry up and get dressed, s-stupid.” Kageyama laughed. “Okay, okay, princess. As you command.” Hinata’s face flamed with fury. “I’M A GUY!!”Hinata yelled with his arms out as if to emphasize the point. “Some princesses have penises.” Hinata looked at him like he had grown a second head. “I’m pretty sure they don’t! Last time I checked anyway……” Kageyama grinned as he somehow managed to slip back into his saturated clothing.

“Let’s go princess.” Hinata swatted away his hand and Kageyama’s smirk became even broader. “On our period, are we?” Hinata had officially lost it. “NO!!!” The ginger held his head in his hands in ultimate frustration and Kageyama felt a wave of satisfaction. Hinata ran to the exit without him and began climbing out of the foliage into the forest. Kageyama soon caught up and joined him with a smirk still plastered on his face. “So you’ve already had it this month?” Hinata turned around and whacked Kageyama on the head and he refused to admit that the little guy could pack a punch. 

“Bakayama.” Hinata continued walking ahead of him and the sun shined down and seemed to catch fire when it touched his vibrant hair, seemingly bursting into flames. Kageyama would’ve been mesmerized but he wasn’t as he refused to admit it. 

Hinata turned around again and the two continued walking. “Make sure not to tell anyone about this place, okay, Bakayama?” Kageyama glared at the boy for the use of that name but the ginger just laughed. Kageyama sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I won’t say anything.” Hinata beamed. “Cool, ‘cause if you did, I may just have to ban you from it.” Kageyama scoffed. “As if you could. I’d just have to raise a hand and you’d be blown away by a gust of wind or something.”

Hinata pointed a finger at the raven. “Don’t get so ahead of yourself, Bakayama. I have magic of my own, too.” Kageyama laughed. “Yeah, the magic of a fairy princess. In other words, the power to make cupcakes and sprinkles.” Hinata looked on the verge of death with all the princess shit Kageyama kept throwing at him. “Firstly, if I could do that, I would never have known the word starvation. Secondly, YOU CALL ME EITHER A GIRL OR A PRINCESS ONE MORE TIME AND YOU WILL BURN TO A CRISP WITH MY MIGHTY POWERSSSSSSS!!!!!” Kageyama looked doubtful. “Try me.” 

Hinata looked like he was about to explode but instead took a breath and reigned in his rage – which just entertained Kageyama further. All of a sudden, Hinata turned around again with a smile on his face aimed at Kageyama. That stupid sun just happened to conveniently strike exactly where Hinata was again and the boy looked as if his whole body had been engulfed in flames. It was as if he was radiating sunlight as if he were the sun itself. The silver pendant the boy was wearing caught the sun’s rays and reflected as if it was sparkling and Kageyama couldn’t help but stare. No, he wasn’t gay. But even if he had tried to deny it, it would’ve just sounded like he was lying. Hinata really was beautiful.

“Let’s go, Kageyama?” Hinata’s hand was outstretched towards the other male and Kageyama stared at it briefly before taking it for whatever godforsaken reason. No! For the hundredth time, HE WASN’T GAY!! He just couldn’t help it as if he was in a trance and before he knew it, he was already hand in hand with the stupid shrimp. Heck, maybe the kid did have magic because there was no way that Kageyama had taken his hand or thought…..that voluntarily. What kind of guy thinks another guy is beautiful? A gay one, his conscience chided and he had to wrangle the urge to slap himself. No. He was not gay and that was final.

Hinata continued to drag Kageyama back through the forest and Kageyama couldn’t help but stare at him the entire time. Stupid sun and its stupid timing. It was just too convenient if he were to say so himself, but at the same time, he didn’t want to look away. Something about the smaller boy made him feel warm inside and NO IT WAS NOT GAY FEELINGS COMING OUT. Before he knew what he was doing, Kageyama’s hand had outstretched on its own and had entangled itself in the shrimps hair before he could stop himself. Both boys froze and Kageyama pulled his hand away. “What was that?” Hinata breathed out, looking just as flushed as Kageyama, but probably more so. “N-Nothing dumbass! J-Just keep walking!” Hinata chuckled and turned around again seemingly pleased with having seen another side of Kageyama apart from his scowls and victorious smirks. It was somehow pleasant – though he refused to admit – and Hinata could feel a funny tingling in his chest. 

As if to confirm it, Hinata turned around to look at Kageyama but was disappointed that his facial expression had reverted back to its usual scowl. “What?” Hinata sighed. “Nothing……Bakayama.” The raven’s expression quickly became one of annoyance. “What did you call me?!” Hinata laughed and continued walking, the two still hand in hand. Neither of them knew the reason why, but none of them wanted to pull away so neither of them mentioned it and they fell into an awkward yet comfortable silence. Hinata couldn’t help but smile when he felt Kageyama’s eyes boring into his back. The outskirts of the tribe was coming into view and Kageyama’s grip on Hinata’s hand unconsciously became tighter. It made Hinata feel warm inside but he didn’t understand why. Oh well. It wasn’t important. 

Hinata looked back to Kageyama only to find the other boy was still looking at him and said boy turned away with a slight blush.

Yeah, maybe Bakayama wasn’t the best of guys, but he wasn’t a bad guy either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? Probably not, but half of you are probably here due to sheer boredom so what's it matter? Anyways, thanks for reading fellow fujoshis/fudanshis! See yaaaaaa


	3. Secrets and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama gets the a-okay to bring his "friend" around to meet his father before they set off back to Kageyama Tribe lands, but Kageyama soon realizes that maybe the two have already met before. And he is determined to find out how, when, and most importantly WHY.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, don't hate on me. I intended to write more but I just haven't been able to and my internet is being an ass so I won't be able to update until I can go to the library again so I guess It'll be a while. I had originally intended to explain the whole hinata-kageyama's father backstory in this chapter but I just couldn't fit it in before the library closed so..... anyways, I know this chapter is boring, but try not to die because it will get more interesting real quick (I know I've said this before but try not to hate)

“Hey, Father?” Kageyama looked up from where he was eating, both his knife and fork having stilled in their movements, now being gently placed beside said boy’s plate. “Yes, son?” The Chieftain had also stopped eating, looking over at his son with utmost curiosity – though the man would never show it. Kageyama seemed to hesitate over his response which only piqued his father’s curiosity further. His son was never usually this hesitant; he was always the straightforward type. Whatever had made him act this way must have been big. He wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased or worried.

Kageyama played with his fingers unconsciously before he found the words and relayed them to his father. “Would I, er – Would it be possible for me to introduce someone to you?” The Chieftain’s eyebrow rose. “Well, uh,” Kageyama began playing with his fingers again, twirling his thumbs around each other as if they could convey what he wanted to say. “They’ve been a great f-friend -” Kageyama stuttered as he wondered whether friend was the right word for their relationship. Sure, they had hung out a lot over the past week, but Kageyama wasn’t sure whether Hinata classified him as a friend so it didn’t feel right to establish the supposed nature of their relationship if said person involved hadn’t personally confirmed it. But for the sake of his goal – purely because he knew his father well – it would be easier to get his father to cooperate if he referred to Hinata as a friend.

“Friend?.....” His father looked at him with a smirk on his face, obviously trying to hide a smile but was miserably failing. Whenever the idea of Kageyama having made a friend came up, his father was always the first on his case. Yeah, so what if he didn’t have many friends? It’s not like he was a social recluse, he just didn’t like people. Was that so hard to understand? But no…. his father was always trying to get him set up with people – both romantically and platonically – because supposedly a boy his age needed “friends” or at least some sort of love interest. Kageyama could swear he could hear his father crying inside because he had never had a crush – heck, he didn’t even know his sexuality – and that was undoubtedly another of the reasons the man kept trying to stick him with people. But now that Kageyama had brought up the existence of a possible friend by his terms, the raven knew that his father would never let it go if he had to wrangle the information out of him himself so there was no option but to continue the conversation before his father tackled him to the ground.

“Yeah, so this g-guy I met-”

“So they’re a guy are they?” Kageyama’s father wiggled his eyebrows and Kageyama had to fight the urge to slap him. “Don’t even start. I am not gay.” Kageyama mentally prepared himself to continue, mutters of ‘sure’ coming from his father’s direction. “Yeah, so this guy I met -” The man wiggled his eyebrows again. Oh, for the love of god – “I’ve, uh, gotten on with him well lately -” If the man wiggled his eyebrows one more time, Kageyama was going to rip them off. “- and because he’s from the Sawamura Tribe, I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I brought him back to our tribe lands for a little while when we leave.” Kageyama finished his sentence, looking up at his father expectantly, albeit only slightly for he knew that even though his father appeared to be contemplating it, the man had already jumped on the chance in his head and would never let it go if it killed him. 

“Well, seeing as you so wonderfully implored me,” Kageyama’s eye twitched, “I may just have to make an exception and allow my little baby boy to bring his friend back with him, on the condition that I am introduced to him first. Sound alright?” Kageyama relaxed in his chair and sighed in relief. He hadn’t realized how tense he had been and it was without doubt that even if he hadn’t his father did. Kageyama wanted to punch the guy when he let out a chuckle behind his hand.

“So who’s the lucky fella?” The eyebrows moved again and Kageyama had made up his mind. He was going to get the razor later and when the man woke up, he would be in for a shock. Hey, it wouldn’t bother Kageyama in the slightest; the man never needed his eyebrows anyway. 

“The “lucky fella”, as you put it, was the stupid pipsqueak that deprived me of a certain set of clothing that left me wearing nothing short of a dress last week.” His father’s eyes rolled. “Hey, come on! The replacement clothes weren’t that bad! And they certainly weren’t a dress.” As the man finished, his eyes seemed to flicker in acknowledgement. “Oh, so that’s the boy who dared mess with Tobio-chan! Anyone who can piss you off and get away with it has certainly left me impressed. Not to mention, you became friends with him too! You’d never do that; are you sick?” 

Kageyama seemed to consider that possibility for a moment. He and Hinata had met up several times throughout the last week whenever Kageyama had managed to get away from “prospective bride searching” and had often retreated to the cave or just anywhere away from where he would be recognized in general where they would converse or just sit silently in each other’s company. Sometimes Kageyama would even put on a show with his powers, making icy patterns dance across the cave walls or even make exotic plants bloom from crannies in the rock. But there was no denying that Kageyama had started seeing the young boy in a certain……light.

The fact that the boy seemed to attract the sunlight like a magnet didn’t help. Every time they stepped outside, the sun would bounce off his vibrant hair and radiate from his skin much more than was considered normal and it drove Kageyama mad. Perhaps it was because he seemed intent on denying how beautiful it made the shrimp loo- no, he was NOT beautiful! Okay, maybe just a bit. But that was because of the sun, and only the sun. No, it was not because of Hinata and his short frame and cute face and- NO. But if anything, he physically couldn’t deny how pretty the boy was when he looked at Kageyama or how the feel of his soft skin made him warm inside every time they accidentally brushed against each other. With that in mind, maybe his feelings towards the short boy weren’t normal. But to be fair, he had never had a real friend before so maybe this was just what friendship felt like and besides, other people just didn’t sparkle like he did. Maybe the sun was just never as bright when he looked at other people or maybe he just never bothered to notice other people – let alone their existences – as he did Hinata’s.

Either way, maybe he really was sick. Because no matter the circumstance, it wasn’t normal to think of another boy as beautiful……right?

Kageyama hadn’t realized he’d zoned out until his father’s knowing smirk grew wider and the movement abruptly pulled him out of his daze. Oh shit, he’d done it now. He knew, he knew, he kn- “So when do I get to meet the precious boy who single-handedly swept my indifferent son off his feet?” Kageyama refused to let the blush he felt coming consume his cheeks so with the slight aid of his powers he managed to suppress it and showed a face of so called “indifference” towards his old man. “He did not “sweep me off my feet”. I was just contemplating where he would be now. That’s it.” The lie fooled nobody but even if they both knew as well as each of them knowing each other knew, no one said anything more on the subject and Kageyama was almost grateful his father didn’t pull him up on his obvious lie. What could he say? Kageyama had rarely lied to anyone before, let alone spoke unless it was necessary so it wasn’t like he had had any practice. And it showed. But even if he could lie, Kageyama doubted he would’ve been able to get the truth past his father anyway. The man was too observant; too knowing.

“Well, either way, I won’t be able to meet him for a while as I still have certain matters to attend to, but there should be some time during this week before the final dinner party so if you wanted to bring him ‘round just check if he is free around 5pm on Sunday night and we’ll have an hour before the evening kicks off. Sound alright?” Kageyama considered this briefly, taking his friend’s schedule in account (or lack thereof) and gave his father the verbal thumbs up, excusing himself from the table and leaving the elaborate residence they had been given for the duration of their stay and took off to the woods. 

“Hinata!” Kageyama had bent over with his hands on his knees in an attempt to regain his breath as the red-head brusquely walked over to him from the other side of the cave. “Hmm? What is it, Bakayama?” Kageyama would have pulled the boy up about the certain nickname he seemed adamant about referring to him as but prioritized his latest news over what could certainly wait until later. “Sunday, 5pm. Bring your family.” Kageyama straightened and walked past Hinata and sat down. He couldn’t stop the smirk from spreading across his face as he realized he didn’t have to turn around to look at the chibi to know he would be travelling behind him.

“To what, Kageyama?”

“To the dinner party. You and your family will meet my father and then when we head back to our lands the next day, I’ll be taking you three with me on a sort of vacation.” Hinata went to put his hand up. “No buts. I decided to be generous seeing as you’ll undoubtedly like it and it’s the least I could do to thank you for your……………hospitality……..while I was here.” Hinata’s hand retracted itself but his eyes went wide.

“What will I undoubtedly like?” Hinata seemed to be bobbing up and down where he sat, excitement radiating off of him like a tsunami. Or perhaps UV rays would be a better analogy seeing as the boy was as damn bright as ever and it had never failed to annoy Kageyama to this day. Okay, less than two weeks wasn’t exactly a long period of time and considering people in general annoyed Kageyama just by existing, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Hinata was actually doing pretty well. But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to pull curtains across the sunlight wherever it seemed to be coming from simply because it made him want to run his hands through the smaller boy’s hair every time it landed on him. Throughout the last week, his longing to do so had continued to become ever more painful but there was no way he would let himself slip up again like the first time; pretty much leaving him fighting to keep his hands to himself and it hurt. Stupid sunlight and the stupid chibi sunlight magnet. 

Kageyama sighed. He went to say something but stopped himself as he seemed to change his mind on it, changing the topic before he had even spoken of the previous. “You know what? Never mind.” Kageyama shook his head. “Anyways, it’s probably best if I get you and your family a decent set of clothing for Sunday and I’m pretty sure your mother is off shift now so we’ll head back to your place before I drag you to mine.” Hinata stiffened behind Kageyama but the raven didn’t notice.

Kageyama stood up abruptly and began to walk to the exit of the cave and Hinata jumped up and followed him, albeit less energetically than was usual for him and it would have put Kageyama on edge if he had noticed. No, he wasn’t avoiding looking at Hinata because of certain images of the boy in different outfits plagued his mind. No, not at all.  
By the time they had reached the outskirts of the tribe, before Kageyama could see Hinata’s unease the boy had already hidden it away and replaced it with his cheery self. They met up with Hinata’s mother and his sister and all three of the Hinatas were carted away to the temporary Kageyama residence where Kageyama raided several wardrobes and compiled several (evidently unique) outfits for each of the Hinata’s to try on. Kageyama took Natsu and left briefly to both let Hinata and his mother get changed in privacy while he visited a few clothes merchants to pick up an outfit for the child seeing as no one in the Kageyama family possessed clothing suitable for little girls.

Kageyama returned with Natsu in tow as both the elder Hinata’s had just finished trying on their selected pieces, looking at them in awe. They weren’t the flashiest pieces they had ever seen, but they were the flashiest pieces they had ever worn and both the sheer beauty and craftsmanship of the materials left them flabbergasted.

“OOO BAKEYAMA THESE CLOTHES ARE SO COOL!!!” Hinata squealed, jumping onto Kageyama who in turn pushed him away with a discreet blush as he coughed. “Of course they are, dumbass. They’re my clothes.” Hinata scoffed and crossed his arms. “You probably didn’t even buy them. Even so, not everyone has money.” Kageyama snickered as he turned away from him. “Not everyone has brains, either.” Shouts of “Fight me, Bakayama!” echoed around the room from behind Kageyama as said raven lifted the small dress he had bought and handed it to Natsu. The little girl gleamed up at Kageyama before dashing over to her mother and holding the dress up in front of her.

“Look Okaa-san! Tobio-chan helped me pick it! Isn’t it pretty?” Her mother laughed and so did Hinata at “-chan” but he was quickly silenced when Kageyama punched him in the arm. “Can I try it on?” The little girl looked up pleadingly to the raven and Kageyama couldn’t say no even if he had wanted to. After all, Natsu was a spitting image of Hinata and how could he refuse a face like that – NO. Kageyama berated himself for letting his thoughts wander in that certain direction again and he found himself exiting the room with said shrimp so that Natsu could try her dress on and so that her mother could change back into her own clothes. 

When the door opened, Natsu came squealing out and Kageyama could hear Hinata’s mother laughing as the little girl tackled him. “Thank you soooooo much, Tobio-chan! I LOOK LIKE A PRINCESSSSSSSS!!!” Natsu was screaming in joy now and soon Kageyama felt himself laughing too as he pried the girl away from where she had wrapped herself around his legs (he was too tall for her to reach his waist).

“Thank you for everything, Kageyama-sama, you have shown us more than enough kindness and we are most grateful.” Hinata’s mother bowed her head from where she stood in the room and Natsu joined in, clutching the hem of her dress tightly, still ecstatic about the “princess” outfit. “No, please, Hinata-san, it was my pleasure. Please call me by -san as well. And your daughter was most lovely.” He looked to Natsu and she grinned broadly. “Your son on the other hand…..” Kageyama then looked to Hinata and his pouting face was cu-expected. “You’re so mean, Tobio-chan!” Hinata whined in a girly voice and it ticked him off immensely. “Tobio-chan?!” Kageyama grabbed the red head in a head lock and pinched his cheeks making the younger boy kick and squirm. “Rop it, Robio-chan!” This only made Kageyama pinch harder and the two seemed to have lost themselves in their own world before finding themselves face to face with Hinata’s mother’s gentle laughter.

Her eyes grew gentle as she gazed at the boys almost lovingly. “I see that I can trust Shouyo to you, Kageyama-san. You’ll be great to my son.” Yells of “what’s that supposed to mean?!” came from a grumbling Hinata, but Kageyama couldn’t see him as he felt too giddy. It wasn’t a blessing or anything but it might as well have been one. NO HE WAS NOT GOING TO THINK LIKE THIS AGAI-“Kageyama?” Said raven looked down into amber eyes unintentionally and was pulled out of his daze and into another. “Y-Yeah?” Hinata looked at him like he was stupid which pissed him off immensely. He didn’t get to reprimand the shrimp as he had already been dragged out of the room with the door closed behind them. “Natsu’s changing, Bakayama. Duh. Unless you intended to look?” Hinata put up his fists in challenge, glaring at Kageyama. “WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU ACCUSING ME OF?!?! YOU’RE SICK!!” Kageyama raised his own fists and by the time the door opened again, both boys were completely disheveled from their play brawl and found themselves once again faced with the woman’s gentle laughter. Natsu jumped onto Kageyama before letting go and running off. “See ya, Tobio-chan!” Hinata’s mother bid a quick goodbye too, although Kageyama had caught a smirk much too like his father’s playing on his face and if she was implying what he thought she was, he didn’t know if he could handle two sets of parents shipping him with Hinata instead of one. But the thought that neither was against it was comforting if he did decide to – NO. NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Kageyama slapped himself to break free of his increasingly frequent thoughts and found a certain dumbass giving him that look again.  
“Don’t look at me like I’m stupid, dumbass.” Hinata huffed. “So what are we doing today, Kageyama?”

~oOo~

Kageyama pulled Hinata out from where he had hidden himself in the hallway and placed him on his feet. “What are you nervous about? It’s just my father. It’s not like you’re meeting the king or anything.” Hinata’s face paled. “He might as well be!” Hinata went to dash again but Kageyama grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. Sighing, he dragged the boy with him outside the large room his father was in, both of them joining the regally dressed Natsu and her mother outside the set of mahogany doors.  
“Are you scared because you’re not as pretty as Natsu?” He ruffled said girl’s hair and Hinata looked as if the world had just ended. “Kageyama, you’ve just done something that can’t be undone! You’ve fallen for……my SISTER?!?!” Kageyama didn’t respond immediately because he was too busy trying to make his facial muscles work. “THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!! WHAT IS IT WITH YOU?!?!” Hinata laughed. “At least you’d be with a princess, right Natsu?” She twirled in her dress. “Yup!” Kageyama had noticeably paled. “Don’t encourage him!” Kageyama looked shocked beyond belief but all the Hinatas did was laugh. Even Hinata’s mother was laughing – which was strange considering her son had just implied that he was attracted to her (assumed) 6 year old daughter.

‘But why have a princess when you could have a prince?’ His conscience chided. Kageyama didn’t even know where the remark came from but what he did know was that he wanted to slap himself again for it. Was his inner gayness finally making an appearance? No, he refused to admit it. He had no inner gayness. (a/n: lies, more lies)

“Changing the subject,” Kageyama coughed behind his hand, “Are you all ready to go in?” Hinata visibly shuffled beside him but Kageyama had already expected as much. “I’ll that as a yes.” He grabbed Hinata’s hand and before said boy could protest, the large mahogany doors had already been flung open and the figure of a rather tall, aged man came in to view from the other side of the room. Kageyama could feel Hinata trying to pull away but Kageyama tightened his grip because he knew that if he let go the boy would try to run.  
“Ah, you must be the Hinatas, it’s an honor to meet you.” Kageyama’s father walked over to them and bowed low, the Hinata’s noticeably bowing lower. When they lifted their faces Hinata and his mother both shared the same look of shock before his father’s took on the same expression.

Without warning, the two dropped low to bow in dogeza and Kageyama and his father had frozen – though for different reasons and Natsu looked on questioningly. “Okaa-san?”  
“It’s you.”

Kageyama looked up with shock at the unfamiliarity of his father’s voice. It almost seemed distant, as if it were from another time. He couldn’t have put his finger on it, but even if he had wanted to, he was too wrapped up in the moment to leave thought for such things, let alone actually think. 

Silence permeated the air before his father’s voice cut through the air once again. “It’s okay, please stand.” The two figures currently groveling rose to their feet, both looking bewilderedly at the man in front of them. Kageyama’s father extended a finger and raised Hinata’s cheek, looking into his eyes. “You’ve grown little one.” Hinata’s face grew teary and he suddenly jumped and caught the man in a tight embrace. “Not by much though, mind you.” The man’s gentle laughter resonated throughout the room as he lovingly ruffled the boy’s hair as Hinata’s mother began to cry silently too.

“It’s you…” She said, looking at the man like a savior, joy clearly written across her face. She brought her hands to her mouth as if she couldn’t believe what was happening. She probably couldn’t. No one could. Even Kageyama, who clearly didn’t have any idea of what was going on was bewildered.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” The man’s gentle smile met hers and her tears began to flow more freely. “I trust that everything is well?” This time, when the man looked to Hinata’s mother, they both shared the knowing look that Kageyama knew so well; except this one was different. Completely different. A hidden message was imbedded in their gaze and it left Kageyama uneasy.

“Why, of course. We have no reason to worry now; even financially we are much more stable.” She smiled at him as the boy clinging to him pulled away leaving damp spots on his father’s shirt but the man didn’t seem to care. Kageyama’s father ruffled the boy’s hair once again and gave the boy the same knowing look as he had given his mother only moments earlier. “You seem to be doing just fine now, don’t you?” Hinata smiled up at him and wiped away his tears, a broad smile spread across his cheeks, however the knowing look in his eyes was still there and it bothered Kageyama that he didn’t know what it meant, let alone why on Earth it existed at all. Obviously the two eldest Hinatas and his father had some sort of connection and it wasn’t the day old relationship that could have been forged at the gathering or anything in recent years. The look was that of a certain familiarity gained from years old; not that Kageyama could even guess why lower class citizens, let alone that of a different tribe, had even come into contact with his father on an occasion other than the sacred gatherings. If they could have even come to face to face to him then.

“I take this is your sister, Shouyo?” Kageyama’s father lifted up Natsu and she giggled in delight when he tickled her and she squirmed in his arms. His father knew Hinata’s name? He hadn’t even mentioned the name of his friend, let alone his given name. Yeah, Kageyama knew that the two knew each other but to have such intimate familiarity, they can’t have the kind of relationship forged by mandatory business or communications. Their relationship was something much more personal. It didn’t necessarily bother Kageyama that the two already knew each other, even more so, having so for numerous years prior. But what really bothered him, apart from the fact that the whole interaction was suspicious – and not because he suspected both his and Hinata’s parents were trying to get them together – was that HE didn’t know Hinata like that. Heck, he didn’t even call him by his first name! Yet suddenly, out of nowhere, someone like his father not only knew Hinata, but also had the sort of familiar relationship with him that Kageyama could only dream of. Not that he had been dreaming of it or anything. No. Definitely not. 

“That’s a very nice dress, Natsu-chan! Are you secretly……a PRINCESS?!?!” The man all but yelled in childish enthusiasm, pulling a string of squeals from the little girl in his arms. “YOU COULD TELL?!” Natsu looked more than delighted, clinging more to his father than she had a second ago. “Tobio-chan helped me pick it! He really likes princesses too and said it would suit me!” She squealed again and Kageyama’s father looked at him with a face that just says “oh, do you?”. “Tobio-chan, eh?” His father snickered before lowering the little girl to the floor. 

“Why Tobio-chan,” he made sure to enunciate the –chan suffix, “I never knew you liked princesses, I always thought you liked princes more!” His father pouted and Kageyama could hear Hinata’s laughter cackling away from behind him and he saw said shrimp drop to his knees clutching his chest in laughter in his periphery vision. What was with these people?! Both Hinata’s mother and his father looked at each other, now with a different knowing look in their eyes and Kageyama knew they were plotting something. And it definitely involved him and Hinata. Together. But then a different look crossed over his father’s eyes.

“Kageyama, could you take Natsu-chan out to look at the garden for a while? I’ve yet to reacquaint myself with Shouyo and his mother here, and I’m sure Natsu-chan will love the flowers and playing with the other little girls.” Natsu nodded vigorously her approval and Kageyama reluctantly took her hand and started to lead her away. Before reaching the door, Kageyama looked back one more time to see that all three persons had taken on the same solemn expression and the atmosphere had obviously taken on the sort of morose silence that he wouldn’t have been able to interrupt even if he had wanted to.

The door closed behind him and the girl detached her hand from his and took off to the nearest flowerbed and running around and admiring various plants in general. Kageyama had to force his body to remain footed on the same spot of pavement lest his desires took over and he barged into the room and whatever conversation was going on. His nerves were constantly on edge and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was severely off here and he wanted nothing more than to get to the bottom of it.

Perhaps it was a good thing that was his intention, then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOORING BOOOOOOORING BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING but that's okay. Sometimes the story needs to be boring to progress.


	4. Chapter 3 - PART TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of Chapter 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not updating yesterday, but here is the rest of Chapter 3. It's really short but I hope it's okay with you guys - school just started up again and it doesn't help matters at all (as much as you all know). So either way, Merry 22nd of January

Chief Kageyama sighed as he planted himself tiredly – whilst still politely – in his allocated chair. He knew the night would be long – it was the last dinner for the tribe heads before both the Tsukishima and Kageyama tribes departed back to their respective lands after all – but something, and a not-so-discreet something, gave him the nagging feeling that this night was going to be a lot longer than he had originally anticipated.

“Stop glaring at me like that Tobio. It’s rude. Not to mention totally obvious,” Kageyama’s father spoke without looking up from his plate. “I’m not glaring! It was more of an inquisitive stare,” Kageyama mumbled while looking back down to his own plate and poking at his broccoli numbly. The chieftain looked at his son as he pouted, knowing all too well the numerous reasons for his son’s behavior – despite how much his son would deny it.

“If you’re expecting me to say anything, you’re not going to get anywhere like this.” The man finally looked up at his son only to find the face of irritation he knew would be there. “Then what would get me somewhere? Knowing you, even if I ran a marathon, slayed a dragon and somehow learned to fly, you still wouldn’t run your mouth just to tell me what you thought of the weather. It makes trying to get answers a little difficult, doesn’t it?” Kageyama’s eyes had sharpened and though his voice was still conversationally polite, the unsubtle tone to it was unsurprising.

The older male sighed, the other members seated at the table apparently oblivious to their exchange as he brought a napkin to his mouth before resting it on his empty plate along with his cutlery.

“I understand how close you and Shouyo have gotten-” Kageyama flinched at his father’s emphasis on the word close (yes, he was still in denial) “-but that doesn’t mean he isn’t entitled to privacy. If he wishes to tell you, he will tell you. Otherwise, it really isn’t your place to go around sticking your nose in places where it doesn’t belong, and you know that.” Kageyama finished his food too, gently arranging his cutlery on his plate as deemed proper, not that anyone was paying attention to them anyway – the two chiefs had lost themselves in conversation, Akiteru was conversing with a select young lady across from him and Tsukishima Kei ceased to care. As much as Kageyama wanted to be as stubborn as his will urged him to be, he forced himself to remain impassive – which wasn’t as hard as one would think – and instead resigned himself to the small probes he could only hope his father wouldn’t ignore.

“Then one question.” Kageyama’s mumble was low and he hadn’t looked up from his plate yet, but it still caught his father’s attention nonetheless. “Whatever secrets the Hinata family may have,” Kageyama paused briefly before looking up as he finished his sentence. “How are you involved in it?”

The man looked at his son expressionlessly – neither sadly nor with vigor before shaking his head with a sigh. “Let’s just say one coincidence led to another and soon our paths had crossed and our lives were bound to inevitably change.” The man leant back in his chair a bit more, relaxing, before elaborating more on what couldn’t really be considered an answer. “I was here on business several years ago – you were only a young lad then – and both to get away from business and to conduct business, I took an undercover tour around the town. You know, to see how the Sawamura Tribe runs and whether I could apply those features to better our own tribe.” The man shrugged before a flash of dark intensity took over his features and what was previously a casual conversation soon became more sullen.

“You know how I value all classes the same; higher, middle and lower, right?” Kageyama nodded slightly without realizing he had done so, too caught up in both his father’s words and his own anticipation to do much more; it was a good thing a simple nod was all the confirmation his father needed to continue his speech. 

“So instead of just observing the more affluent part of the tribe land, I made my way to the shabbier parts, where lower-class tribesmen were known for residing or ‘taking up space.’” The man made quotation marks with his index and middle fingers, seemingly disgusted at the apparent term. It was understandable though as Kageyama was disgusted too. It was unfortunate not all people were as considerate of the lower classes; his family was one of the few raised that way. “It was understandable as to why only the lower class lived there, let alone set foot there. The place was absolutely abysmal, dirt and grime covered the walls and houses were less than a hole in the wall.” The man looked to his son. “I’m telling you, Tobio, it’s not a nice place.” 

Kageyama winced as he looked downwards at his empty plate. Kageyama was sure where Hinata lived was the area that his father was talking about. Sure, it wasn’t as bad now that Daichi and his father had cracked down on the horrible condition of the environment, but it was obvious that the place had never been as pretty as the rest of the tribe lands. Heck, the Hinatas didn’t even have a hole in the wall, they had a square of fungus-ridden concrete to sit on! It was amazing how the small family hadn’t already died of sickness, let alone the cold and starvation an- “And so, I was roaming the outskirt areas, trying to comprehend how its existence had gotten past Sawamura,” the man interrupted Kageyamas internal thoughts, “and let’s just say there were worse things to see around the corner than what the eye could see before it.”

The older man winced at the memory and Kageyama knew that whatever he saw was either related or directly related to Hinata. And as much as he knew he didn’t want to know what came next, both curiosity and his undying desire to find the mystery behind Hinata and his strange behavior deemed otherwise. He was going to hear this through.

“Well,” his father sighed, “I can’t exactly say what I saw or how things played out, but yes, as is an obvious guess, I had a major part in the happenings which is also the reason for what happened earlier today.” The chief finished with a sigh and looked to his son sadly. Kageyama was both relieved and frustrated that his father had left out the most important part – the whole answer behind the mystery. His whole father’s story hadn’t told him pretty much anything, but his solemn expression and explanation clued him in on the fact that something horrible had happened. Something tragic.

Kageyama looked up to his father almost regretfully. “It can have been that bad,” he paused. “Right?”

His father looked at him sadly before muttering formalities to be excused as he rose from his chair. Still turned away from his son, the man’s low voice still reached his ears, mostly because Kageyama was straining to hear any sound possible in hopes of being enlightened on the situation.

“Let’s just say what happened……” The man paused again. If this was a less solemn conversation, Kageyama would’ve thought the man did it for dramatic effect, but now was different and the pause was understandingly natural.

“………would scar a man for life.”

Kageyama flinched but his father didn’t need to see it to know his son had done so; anyone would have done the same in his position. The rest of the company at the table was still oblivious to the somber exchange, too caught up in their own conversations to notice the tense atmosphere surrounding the two males of the Kageyama Tribe.

Kageyama continued staring down at his plate as his father walked away, excusing himself only seconds later – not that anyone noticed. The raven walked through the grand mahogany doors of the main residence, much grander than those at the adjoining residences – if that was even possible. The click of the lock barely made a sound but it was there nonetheless, breaking the silence but initiating it at the same time as it cut him off from the loud voices coming from the dining room. Kageyama walked further down the hallway to find his way out, completely unaware of how Tsukishima Kei’s eyes lingered on the door – but much more concerning to the boy had he known – and how they had lingered on the entire exchange.

What could he say? Tsukishima Kei was easily bored.  
He couldn’t help himself when things suddenly got interesting.

~oOo~

The chief slid down the wall in the privacy of the darkness of his room. His wife was peacefully asleep, unaware of the turmoil raging inside both her son’s and husband’s minds as she remained oblivious to the fact that anything remotely significant was even happing at all. It wasn’t her fault though. Had either he or his son be seen with Shouyo in her presence, the happenings afterwards would have inevitably had the two boys tying the knot at some grand wedding she had planned, undoubtedly with Hinata in some extravagant dress of her choosing – as much would be to his obvious distaste. 

As much as both he and Hinata’s mother shipped the two boys, his wife was a dangerous force not to be reckoned with and there was no way he nor Kageyama dared (not that Kageyama admitted to wanting to be with Hinata – the boy was obviously in denial) to trigger her fujoshi awakening – a force that couldn’t even be reckoned with by God. And for good reason. A wise man knew not to fight a fight he couldn’t win, especially against this woman. 

The man smiled at the thought but the heavy feeling came back once brief parts of his most recent conversation permeated his thoughts. The man laughed quietly, caught up in the hidden meaning behind the statement his son would never bother to delve deeper into. 

“‘………would scar a man for life.’”

The man laughed again, but it was a sad laugh, having none of the joyous attributes a laugh would normally have. The man smiled grimly, looking out of the window from across the room.

“If only he knew.”


End file.
